Tales of Valoran
by Zaradi
Summary: Welcome, Summoners, to Valoran! Explore the continent home to the Institute of War and delve into the issues that ignite the land in the flames of constant war.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome, Summoners! Witness the extraordinary tales of extraordinary people as the whole of Valoran wages war upon itself.

**Chapter One: Just Another Day on the Job**

The wind shifted slightly to the east by a few miles. The Sheriff adjusted her aim a hair to account for the change in wind speed before re-settling in. Caitlyn had been lying in wait for multiple hours at this point, keeping an eye on her quarry from a distance. She had been tracking this slippery fellow for two months, and that was after a failed attempt to capture him on her own. This time, though, she was packing back-up.

"What's your position? He's still sitting at the bar. Any longer and he may leave." Caitlyn spoke over a short-ranged communication piece attached to her ear. A cool little gizmo she had whipped up a while ago when she gained a partner.

"Geez, calm down Cait. I'm just right down the street. He's not getting away this time." Her spunky, sarcastic partner replied back as Caitlyn saw Vi turn the corner, jogging her way down to the saloon where their target waited.

Vi was an interesting partner for the Sheriff. Not only was Vi a former criminal herself, while Caitlyn being her arresting officer, but their personalities were entirely different. Caitlyn, the calm and collected Sheriff, willing to wait for days for the precise conditions that she wants to make her move, partnered with Vi, the rambunctious, rebellious brawler who couldn't stand in the same spot for more than three seconds. Yet together they were an unstoppable combination, able to take down the most complex crime rings and the most dangerous criminals.

And yet, Caitlyn mused to herself, she still couldn't control her own partner.

"Take it slow. If he catches wind of you coming, he's just going to bail." Caitlyn warned, adjusting the lenses of her rifle scope to zoom in on her target. The man had many aliases, almost as many names as games that he cheated in, but there was one that consistently kept popping up: Twisted Fate. The name suited his style of crime exceptionally well: he was the head of a massive fraud and booking ring that focused on cheating in any form of gambling that the town of Piltover allowed. Seeing as how the vast majority of Piltover's economy ran off of the gambling industry, much to Caitlyn's dismay, this was a pretty big problem.

Twisted Fate was a hard target to track, given his underground connections, but catching him once tracked was another headache in and of itself. His magical abilities allowed him not only to slow and temporarily paralyze targets at will, but he could teleport leagues away at any moment. Capturing him required tricky timing and careful, precise movement.

Anyone who knew Vi knew that neither of those words come even close to describing how she moves.

"You said yourself that he could bail at any time. That means I gotta work fast. Besides, he can't see me anyway. I'm totally in the clear!" Vi replied in her usual confident, borderline cocky attitude as she approached the back alleyway to the saloon. She peered at a dumpster for a second before opening it and pulling out her Hextech Gauntlets, sliding them onto her hands and powering them on. She looked to where Caitlyn lay prone and grinned. "Ready?" she asked, taking a step back and bouncing on her toes, just waiting for the go-ahead to go in. Caitlyn ensured Twisted Fate was still sitting down, which he was, before nodding to herself. "He's sitting down. Go now." Caitlyn said, finger moving to the trigger, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

At the word 'go', Vi reared back a fist and flung herself through the wooden wall into the saloon. Wood and splinters flew everywhere. People dove for cover, but weren't scared at the metallic fist flying through the wall; it was a fairly common sight. Twisted Fate, on the other hand, stayed motionless. Even a splinter the size of a pool cue speared the glass Twisted Fate was drinking from wasn't enough to faze him. He simply sat there, as if pondering the depths of the continuum of life. He let out a small sigh before shaking his head. "Y'know, I paid top dollar fer that drink. And you just had to ruin it." He spoke, getting out of his seat and standing up. For a very tough man, he wasn't a very big one. Yet the very essence of magic seeped from every pour of his body, and his lack of size was definitely compensated by his inert potential.

Vi laughed and stretched her neck, rearing for a fight. "Yeah, well, it'd be a bore trashing some poor drunk guy. You're gonna be coming with me now." Vi spoke, still bouncing on the balls of her feet. Twisted Fate just laughed and put his hands on his hips. "Silly gurl. You just don't quite know what yer doin', don'tcha?" he retorted. Instantly his hand flicked out, sending a card flying. It glowed with a pale, yellow light as it zoomed toward Vi.

At least, it was zooming toward Vi until it flew into a wall, a hole in the middle of it. Twisted Fate let one eyebrow raise, looking out the window to finally spot Caitlyn, lying prone, her rifle barrel smoking from the shot. He let out a low whistle before chuckling a little. "Damn, that's a helluva shot. Give the lovely Sheriff my congratulations, as well as my farewell." He said, waving his hand with an arrogant grin decorating his rugged face. "No!" both officers shouted, Caitlyn lining up a shot as quickly as she could and Vi dashing forward to tackle the outlaw. Neither were successful, both hitting thin air where the cowboy was.

Vi pushed herself off of the ground, slamming a Hextech fist into the ground in frustration. She turned her head out the window to her boss, who stood up and slung her rifle over her back. It was clear that they were going to need some help catching him. And she knew just which outlaw to ask.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: An Unlikely Ally…Maybe?**

The musty, smoky bar came into view as Caitlyn pushed open the double-swinging doors and entered the bar. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, there were quite a few people pounding down drinks. It was usual, so long as their behavior did not become disorderly. Most of the patrons glanced over to see the new-comer in the doorway before returning to their drinks and conversations. Most. The one that didn't turn his head was the man Caitlyn was looking to talk to.

The man didn't turn his head in the slightest as the Sheriff approached, content at staring at his nearly empty beer bottle instead. Caitlyn sat down next to him and just waited. A minute passed before the man made any indication that he was still conscious by letting out a deep sigh. "You just gunna sit there or are yah gunna buy me a drink?" the man asked, finishing his bottle before knocking it to the side. Caitlyn waved down the bartender and asked for two drinks before turning back to the man. She didn't have time to say anything before he held a single finger up, motioning for her to stop. "Before you even start, know that the answer is probably no. So unless you're really sure it's something I'm going to want to –"

This time it was Caitlyn's turn to stop him with a finger. "Graves, I need your help taking down Twisted Fate."

Graves stopped. In his eyes flashed a red streak of hate, of rage and anger. The memories of past trials and betrayals flashed before his eyes, and his fist clenched to control the emotions sweeping over him. But just as quickly as it came, it left and Graves was back to his cold, emotionless demeanor. "You know that I tend to avoid cops. That generally includes working with them. Why would I change that now?" He asked, taking one of the bottles of beer that the barmaid brought over and taking a sip from it, never making eye contact with Caitlyn. She took the other one and took a sip of it as well, letting the cold brew wash down her throat. "Because you know you can't get him on your own. You need our help to get him." She reasoned. Graves nodded slightly, contemplating the argument. "That may be true. But without me, you won't be able to catch him either." Graves responded simply, which Caitlyn knew was true. So all Caitlyn could do was nod.

"Fair enough, what do you want?"

Graves laughed at that comment before he started fishing in his pocket. "Now, now Cait. Have I ever been the one to kiss and tell?" he said, finally returning his hand with a cylinder clutched inside of it. The Sheriff only had seconds to scramble out of the way before the outlaw pulled the pin and dashed away, leaving a billowing cloud of smoke to cover his tracks. Caitlyn did her best to shield her eyes and cover her mouth with a scarf, preventing the smoke from entering her lungs as she stumbled to the door and back outside into the open air. Of course, there was no sign of the man she was after, but the chase was just getting started. She grabbed her com unit and switched it on. "Vi, did you see which way he went?"

A short pause before a reply: "Yeah he went to the east and out of town. He's probably got a camp out there somewhere. How you're going to find him is beyond me." Vi said, standing up from her perch on a nearby rooftop and jumping down, landing with a roll to break her fall. Caitlyn let out a tsk of annoyance before she looked at the ground and saw a small piece of parchment at her feet. She picked it up to examine it and smiled:

_There's a man in Zaun called Dreyer. He's an engineer of sorts. Go there and ask him to create Projects 42 and 57. He'll know what to do. Get him whatever he needs to be able to make them. Bring them back to me, and then I'll help you catch that bastard._

_Graves_

Caitlyn pondered on the note for a while, flipping it around to make sure that there was nothing on the back side of it before nodding. "Hey Vi, feel like taking a road trip?"

**A/N: So this definitely wasn't as long as I was hoping it could be, but it's late and my mind is sleepy so I'm just going to get this out and work on the next chapter. I'm hoping to update this at least weekly, maybe more frequently if I have the time to. Feel more than welcome to follow/favorite as well as give me reviews on what you think of it! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Long Road to Ruin**

"Hey Cait!"

A sigh followed. "Yes, Vi?"

"Are we there yet?"

Another sigh. "No, Vi, we aren't."

Vi groaned and shifted her seating in the side car of the motorcycle they had taken for the trip to Zaun. Caitlyn and Vi had been tasked with taking down a ruthless outlaw known only as Twisted Fate. Since they had both tried and failed to apprehend them on their own and working in tandem, they decided to recruit the help of another local outlaw, Graves. In order for them to buy his help, though, he required them to go to Zaun and ask some guy named Dreyer to make a few things.

And so here they were, running errands for some guy who was probably getting hammered while each bump in the gravel road hammered the back of the seat into the young brawler's back. All she could do was lean her head back and close her eyes, doing her best to try and get comfortable. All Vi could think about right now was why. Why were they doing all this? Why were they helping someone who they should probably be locking up instead of being their errand-girls? The entire thought perplexed her, and she ran a gauntlet-less hand through her bright pink hair.

"Hey Cait!"

"I swear to god if you ask me that damn question one more time…"

Vi laughed and shook her head slowly. "No, not that again. Why are we doing this again?"

"You were there. If we want Graves' help, we have to get a few things for him." Caitlyn replied evenly. Vi just shook her head in disagreement. "Come on, we both know that's complete and utter crap. We don't even know if Graves can actually help us out. What's one more body worth when at the slightest sign of trouble Twisted Fate just vanishes into thin air? Besides, if he needs these things, why doesn't he just go to Zaun himself and pick them up? Why have us go for him?" Caitlyn drove in silence after that, contemplating the points Vi brought to her attention.

"I suppose we'll just have to trust him on this one. Besides, we don't really have any other options." Caitlyn responded after a while, which only merited a laugh from Vi in response. "Sure, you can trust him. Don't you and him have some, ehem, 'history' together?" She prodded the Sheriff, who only sighed in memory of what had been only a few years in the past.

_The night obscured most of the prone figure, lying on a rooftop with a rifle aimed down at a building across the way. If not for the full moon hanging high overhead, the Sheriff would've been entirely invisible. As it was now, only someone standing behind her at a certain angle would be able to see her body. _

_Which is why the Sheriff was started to have someone tap the back of her foot. "Well lookie here, if it ain't the Sheriff of Piltover herself."_

_Immediately she rolled to the side, then lashed her leg out to sweep the legs of the unknown person behind her. The person jumped back in time, which gave Caitlyn the space she needed to get up and pick up her rifle. Before she could get it aimed, one hand roughly shoved it up and to the side. Caitlyn brought her knee up, ramming the stomach of the attacker before freeing her rifle from the grip of the enemy and bringing the butt of the rifle down on his back. The man fell, rolling to the side to avoid the boot of the law stamping down where his neck would've been. Before he could move any further though, the lithe sheriff dropped on top of the man, pinning him to the ground. He tried to shove Caitlyn off of him, but she was too quick for that. She handcuffed his hands to a piece of pipe attached to the building, ensuring that he wouldn't leave any time soon. _

_Then she smiled. The man let out a laugh, a deep baritone filled with amusement. "Y'know, we gotta stop meetin' like this. It's gettin' a little hazardous for m' health." The man commented. Caitlyn grinned and playfully slapped his face in response. He faked a wince of pain and grinned. "Oh, y'got me there. Now I'm hurting." He groaned in mock pain, making the Sheriff smile playfully. "Oh really now Graves. Did the big, bad outlaw get a boo boo?" she mocked, leaning down and planting a kiss on the cheek she hit. She leaned back up, only enough to where their noses where almost touching. "There. All better, you big baby?" she teased. He smiled and shook his head. "Not really. For someone known for her accuracy, you flat out missed." He joked, leaning up enough to plant a kiss on the Sheriff's lips._

"CAITLYN!"

The Sheriff jerked the handles of the motorcycle in time to avoid driving into a ditch on the side of the road. It wasn't like her to let her thoughts get clouded by little things like that, and things could've gotten bad if she had driven off the road. She shook her head, refocusing on what was going on now. "Sorry, sorry. We're almost there anyway." Caitlyn deflected, watching as the towering buildings of the city of Zaun came into visible sight. They'd be able to begin their search for this engineer within the hour.


	4. Chapter 4 Part 1

**Chapter Four: What A Long Day Pt. 1**

It didn't take long for Caitlyn and Vi to drive into the heart of Zaun's metroplex. There wasn't that much of a difference between Zaun and Piltover, aside from the far more urban feel. It was the only place that Caitlyn had ever really had to deal with traffic and other motorists, since people in Piltover preferred using their legs when they could, but it wasn't that hard for a Sheriff to remember the rules of the road. A few people gave the strangers an odd look, their rural attire being something that stuck out in the wrong way, but most people ignored them, too focused on their own business to care. Which was probably for the better.

"Hey Cait, I think we're overlooking something. Piltover and Zaun aren't exactly friends. How are we going to ask people who hate us to help us? Use please and thank you?" Vi asked grumpily; they hadn't taken any stops and her back was "feeling like it had been absolutely wrecked". Caitlyn nodded simply and pondered the problem: what Vi was saying was true. Relations between the two cities were hardly cordial. The problems between the two had been lost over time, and yet the memories and stigmas were sufficient to drive the two city-states to war against each other. There was only recently a ceasefire called between the two of them, and it was shaky at best. A Piltover Sheriff and deputy poking around in an unfriendly city, especially one who's a famed tracker and sharpshooter, might raise more than a few eyebrows; it could raise a few firearms.

"Well, we just gotta find a place to lay our heads right now. Then we start the search. Anyone affiliated with Graves is either dead or a criminal of some sort, so we won't have to worry about really hurting the police force here. If anything we'll be helping them." Caitlyn reasoned, knowing that it probably wouldn't be as easy as that. Vi briefly laughed. "Yeah, like it'll be that easy." She shook her head, running a hair through her neon hair to clear it from her eyes before pointing at a building sign. "First inn I've seen in more than five blocks. Can we just stop there? I seriously think I'm going to need a chiropractor for the knots in my back." Caitlyn let out an exasperated sigh before finding a parking spot and offering her hand to her partner. "Come, oh little child. Let's go find a bed for you."

It had taken quite a bit more than Caitlyn wanted to pay, but she had managed to secure a room for the two of them for the foreseeable future. The possibility of them not being able to find Dreyer quickly is what worried Caitlyn, but they were confident that it couldn't be too hard to find him. The room that they had bought was spartan to the extreme: A single, small bed, a mirror standing against the wall, a small dresser, and a bathroom that could arguably be used as evidence to try the innkeeper for crimes against humanity. It would have to do though.

Caitlyn studied one of the walls, listening, waiting, a grin covering her face. Vi let out a dramatic sigh, flopping down onto the bed with a relaxing smile. Caitlyn spun around at the noise of the fall, clapping her hands together like a personal trainer to an elderly lady looking to lose a few pounds. "Hey, come on now! We have work to do! This engineer won't find himself, we gotta go out there and do it!" she coached, grabbing Vi's shoulders and picking her up and back onto her feet. Vi groaned much like a frustrated teenager would, but nodded. "Caitlyn, you are evil." The sheriff smiled. "Come on, you know you love me. Now stop whining and hurry up. Let's go meet the locals."

Once out of the inn, Caitlyn and Vi split up, each with a sizable purse of cash and coin. The plan was fairly simple: they were operating on the assumption that Dreyer wasn't exactly a law-abiding citizen. If anyone would know what the criminal underground was doing, it would be the average citizen. So, the get the average citizen to talk about something they arguably shouldn't know, it would take a little convincing. Hence, the sizable purses. Someone had to know something.

An hour later, both met up back in front of their inn. Caitlyn wore the same worried, perplexed frown that decorated Vi's face. "I'm guessing you heard the same thing that I did?" Vi asked first, leaning against the wall and counting the cash that she had left. Caitlyn just shrugged. "That Dreyer as an engineer that's working for a major crime syndicate and is currently being hunted by the police and has gone into hiding? Probably." Vi simply nodded; she heard the exact same thing. They both contemplated their next move on how to find him in hiding when the sounds of blaring sirens came within range. They both looked to the cruisers and motorcycles driving by, watching the police force with shock and awe. There had to be at least thirty of them, armed to the teeth, heading into one of the most ghetto parts of Zaun. Both officer's looked at each other and swore. "Speak of the devil…" Vi muttered under her breath as they both scrambled for their motorcycle. Vi took the driver's seat, Caitlyn the passenger car. "What are we waiting for, Vi!? Gun it!"

The pair of Piltover's finest raced after the police convoy, making sure that they kept up with the motorcade, while maintaining a far enough distance that their presence wasn't felt. Vi weaved in and out of traffic, doing everything in her power to keep up without making it look like she was trying to keep up. It was a delicate balance that they were trying to maintain at breakneck speed.

Gunfire echoed up ahead. Vi slammed the bike to a halt at the side of the road and looked to Caitlyn, who was deep in thought. "Let me out here. I'll get a high up vantage point and keep an eye on things. Stay with the cops at a distance, watch things from a ground level. If you see Dreyer, let me know. We may be able to sneak him out of there before they find him. And switch your comm on, we're gonna need to keep in touch." Caitlyn grabbed a pair of binoculars and hopped out of the passenger cab and headed into the tallest looking building. She rushed up the stairs, taking them two per stride as she rushed to the roof as quickly as she could. "Man, these scummies are getting their butts whooped. I got eyes on but I can't see too much from down here. Your spot has to be better than mine or we're in trouble."

"Stop riding my ass and I'll be right there!" she replied, running onto the roof and dashing to the ledge. She had a perfect view of the entire area, and could see everything that's going on. And as the fight began to die down, she didn't like what she saw. "Hey Cait, the gunfire's stopping. I can't see what's going on, but it looks like the copper's finally wrapped this up." Vi reported, and Caitlyn could only nod. Three police officers emerged from the compound, a man wriggling and resisting in their grip. There could only be one person who they were arresting.

"Yeah, the police wrapped things up nicely. And now Dreyer's gonna have a new home in an eight-by-ten cube. We need a new plan."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that! Just as a heads-up for the (few poor souls) people who are reading this: my updating may become sporadic. Finals week is next week and after that I'll be on vacation with my family for another week and internet is iffy. I will try to get the next update up before I leave, but if I won't it will be up the second I get home! Anyway, thanks for reading. Feel free to favorite and follow and give me a review to tell me how I'm doing. I'll see you again next time!**


	5. Chapter 4 Part 2

**Chapter Four: What a Long Day Pt. 2**

"Sheriff, I honestly couldn't give two flying, flaming fucks about what crimes that man is facing in Piltover. Not only do I not have the authority to release him into your custody, regardless of how temporary the release is, but I wouldn't release him to you even if I _did _have the authority. So go and take that back home to your people. You're just flat out lucky I don't arrest your "partner"; you're aware of the extensive rap sheet she has?" Captain Artom Dellanus spat at Caitlyn, leaning back in his office chair and giving her the most spiteful glare he could muster. Caitlyn, enraged and frustrated, stood up from her chair, slamming her palms down on the desk and paced the room in frustration. "Captain, with all due respect, you honestly cannot be that dense to underemphasize the importance of closure to families! Seeing the man who's responsible for engineering so much chaos and strife in their life be sentenced to prison in front of their eyes, in the flesh, is a crucial step to moving past the harm and beginning the process of healing! You're going to deny those families who are in need of this closure the very thing they need to move on with life? Surely you must be joking." Caitlyn attempted to reason with the man, but received a simple wave of the hand in response. "I believe I've already made my views clear. I also trust you can find the door out on your own. As you can see I'm quite busy with work." The captain finished, kicking his feet up on his completely clear and empty desk. Caitlyn readied another barrage of protests and complaints, but thought better of it and closed her mouth. He was clearly beyond reason, and she wouldn't be getting any assistance from him.

Caitlyn straightened her posture, and cleared the rage from her face with a slight nod of her head. "Thank you sir for your time. I shall, indeed, show myself out."

The walk back to the inn where they were staying was a dull, boring walk. Caitlyn was stuck with brooding on the idiocy of the local police captain and contemplating their next move. Obviously just taking him into their custody wouldn't work since they weren't getting any help from the locals. Neither would interviewing him be an option for the very same reason. She doubted that she could even get access to the evidence taken from the scene. There had to be some other—

"Hello there, Sheriff. Do you have time for a word?"

Caitlyn jerked around suddenly, surprised to be addressed in a city where she had done her best to avoid being noticed for her true identity, other than addressing the police captain. The man standing in front of her, though, she did not recognize at all. Seemingly an average citizen, there was nothing about him that stood out to the Sheriff. "Do I know you?" she asked suspiciously. The man smiled a little. "No, and I would be frightened and impressed if you did know who I was. But let's just say that I know why you are here, and I offer you a proposal so that we both have our desired ends." The man gestured to a nearby diner. "Can I get you a tea?"

Caitlyn found the entire thing suspicious, but a lack of other options forced her to accept, and within minutes she was sitting in a booth in the back corner of the store, with a man she didn't know a thing about, a warm cup of tea in her hands. She took a sip of the brew, letting the brew wash her throat and down into her stomach before nodding at the man. "Alright, start talking. Who exactly are you?" The man nodded before starting. "Again, consider me a concerned citizen. A citizen who happens to be at odds with the cops here, especially with the recent arrest of Dreyer, the man you are looking for, for some reason that I don't particularly care about. Regardless of the reason you're really here, you need Dreyer. Thing is, you can't get to him because he got arrested by the fuzz, who are being rather uncooperative with you. If he weren't in police custody, though…"

Caitlyn was finally catching on. "You have got to be kidding…"

The man shook his head. "Nay. All you have to do is break him out of prison. And we can help you."

**A/N: Well that took a lot longer than I thought it would. The good news is that my finals are over, so I should be able to start cranking out chapters more often. With that being said, feel free to follow and favorite and drop me a review to let me know how I'm doing. Seriously. I know I suck. Tell me something. Anything. So yeah, see you guys next time!**


	6. Chapter 4 Part 3

**Chapter Four Part 3: What a Long Day**

Vi was not all that happy with the plan, surprisingly.

"You've gotta be shitting me! You wanna break a criminal out of a jail belonging to Zaun, who we barely have a ceasefire with as it is, and hand him over to some group we don't know? Please tell me you're not being serious. I don't need your super-sleuth detective skills to know that it's an awful plan." Vi complained, pacing the room with frustration. Caitlyn held her hands out, trying to placate the enforcer. "It's not that bad! There's not a conceivable way for it to blow back on us. All you do is have to deal with the captain's sneers and I'll be the one who takes care of the rest of it. Besides, what other option do we have?" Caitlyn retorted. If they couldn't get what Graves wanted, then getting his help was out of the question.

"You wanna know what we do? We don't get Graves's help! Heimerdinger can make us anything we want, so we don't need some scum-bag named Dreyer to make gizmos for us. Hell, we can ask JAYCE for help. We don't need his help!" Vi answered simply.

Caitlyn, for all of her usual detached reasoning, refused to accept that. She knew that if they got Graves's help that they could capture Twisted Fate, but her only problem was getting Vi on board with the plan.  
"That won't work. Heimer deals more in theoretical and Jayce just isn't smart enough to help. Graves absolutely hates Fate. We can use that for our ends! All we have to do-"

"Is break a convicted criminal with a rap sheet longer than mine out of a maximum security prison. Face it, Cait, you're doing this because you still have a thing for him." Vi responded quickly, cutting the Sheriff off before she could finish.

Caitlyn blushed, unable to stop herself from remembering back.

_An abandoned scrap yard was a very odd place for the Sheriff of Piltover to be wandering during the dark of the night, but her job demanded it on occasion. Ensuring that all was well in Piltover, not just in the city main, was a key part of keeping the peace. Caitlyn walked slowly forward, sweeping a flashlight from side to side, her rifle cradled in her spare arm. With the scraps of metal lying around everywhere, it would be an easy task for someone to jump out at her. _

_Which is exactly what happened when Caitlyn felt her gun knocked out of her hands from behind and a shoulder knocking her forward and onto her stomach. _

_Caitlyn reacted fast, rolling to her left to avoid a boot stamping down where her throat would've been, then rolling backwards to get back onto her feet. A punch came for her head, causing her to lean forward to duck under the fist. The Sheriff takes the opportunity to spin an elbow into the now-exposed rib cage. Once it connected, she reversed her spin, her brown hair whipping around as the back of her fist crashed into the side of her assailants head. The attacker staggered back, and righted himself in time to receive a swift boot to the chest to knock him on his butt. Caitlyn had the time to pick up her rifle and fire up a warning shot before her attacker could get up. _

_All he did was laugh. "Damn, Cait. One of these days you're actually gonna break somethin'." Graves mused lightly, wiping a few droplets of blood from his face as he attempted to catch his breath again. _

_The Sheriff simply sighed. "Malcolm Graves, we gotta talk."_

_The Outlaw's smile vanished. Caitlyn shouldered her rifle and walked closer. "Look, we can't keep doing this forever. We can't just keep meeting up in the middle of the night like this. I'm a police officer while you're an outlaw. This doesn't work out well in the end for either of us. We can't be on opposite teams and try to be together." Graves just shrugged in response. "Just drop th' badge and be an outlaw with me." He tried, knowing the futility of making that offer. Caitlyn only shook her head. "You know I can't do that. Any chance of you swapping teams and joining the law?" Caitlyn offered, but it met with the same shake of the head. _  
_A moment of silence past between the two of them, neither quite sure of what would happen next. Graves was the first to break it. "So, are ye' gonna arrest me for real this time?" _

_Caitlyn had to think about this for a bit. Of course arresting the Outlaw would be the smart move: he was, after all, a criminal. But something felt wrong about locking him up. In the end, Caitlyn sighed and let a small shrug move her shoulders. "I'll give you a minute head start. Then it's on."_

_Graves smiled and nodded. Then he dashed forward, grabbing the Sheriff and pulling her into a deep kiss. Forty-five seconds later, he ended the kiss and ran off into the darkness, leaving Caitlyn speechless and confused on whether she made the right move._

Caitlyn shook her head a bit to bring her back to the present before she sighed. "Vi, just help me out here." was all she said, a hint of resignation in her voice. Vi stated at her for a bit, almost as if contemplating how to respond to that before nodding. "Fine, but you owe me big time."

A/N: Yeah yeah I know I'm kinda dragging this out a bit but I'm on vacation so gimme a break here. This is probably gonna be the only update for a while so maybe in a week or so I'll update this. Also I typed this all out on my phone so forgive me for formatting errors, I will fix any that I find once I have a laptop again. As always feel free to favorite/follow and drop a review to let me know how I'm doing.


	7. Chapter 4 Part 4

**Chapter Four Part 3: What a Long Day**

"And over here is where most of the officer's spend their down time whenever they're not patrolling the prison or standing post in the cell blocks."

Vi simply nodded, glancing into the sparse recreational room, exerting all of his will power just to stay awake on this snooze-a-thon. While they certainly didn't expect someone like Vi to want to take a tour of their prisons, they didn't seem to mind showing a fellow law enforcer around for a little bit. And what Vi had seen really scared her.

The prison where Dreyer was being held was locked up tight. Randomized guard paths at random intervals, cameras posted pretty much everywhere (you couldn't even get any privacy in the bathroom!), guards armed to the teeth at the slightest whisper of trouble brewing. Even the prisoners were scared shitless of the guards. Vi mentally compared this prison to the prisons in Piltover, and realized the difference immediately. If she had to choose a place to get locked up, Piltover would be the easier out. At least there they got fed regularly and didn't face brutal beatings at the slightest sign of disobedience. The reality of the prison cruelty also gave her a nasty knot in her stomach that she tried hard to swallow away.

Vi returned her thoughts to the present and simply nodded. "Very Spartan in the extreme. I take it guards don't get coffee breaks much?" she asked, trying to add a little bit of humor to the dreadfully dull tour. The prison warden gave her a blank look in response. "Now if you'll follow me I can show you where the guards go through their training." He spoke in an absolute monotone voice. Vi grimaced at the sourpuss behind his back, following him and getting a good look around. "So, what do you do if a prisoner breaks out of their cell?" Vi asked, curious for a few different reasons. The warden glanced back, not breaking stride. "Our guards are positioned in such a way that we can have at least ten guards at any given spot in the prison within thirty seconds of an alarm going off. There's hardly any threat of rioting here." The monotone came again. Vi simply nodded, feeling the knot in her gut grow bigger and bigger.

It seemed like ages before they arrived at an outdoor field. It was large enough to have both a shooting range as well as a physical training area in the same field. Training cadets swarmed the vast area, training in the various aspects of becoming a police officer, with some rather rigid discipline Vi noted. Vi had already seen several cadets beaten down by their superiors for struggling to lift a large weight or not completing an obstacle course in a certain time or missing a certain target, and the threat of immediate and brutal punishment elicited extreme levels of effort. Vi smirked a little and made a mental note to suggest this to Caitlyn; there were a few cadets in training that she wouldn't mind giving a smack-down to.

Without warning a loud shrill filled the entire field, causing unsuspecting cadets, as well as Vi, to cover their ears in shock. The warden looks unsurprised by the loud noise, but the fact that it was actually there shook him a little. A guard ran up to the warden, whispering something into his ear before dashing back off toward the main compound. The guard simply smiled before looking back to the Enforcer, a sly grin on his face. "It appears that someone is, indeed, trying to escape. Did you want to see our riot protocols in action?" he said, motioning for Vi to follow him. Vi hung back a bit, flipping a small switch on her gauntlet. "You getting all of this?" she said softly before following the warden.

"Yeah Vi, I read all of this. We're on our way out of the block as we speak. Do what you can from there to get them heading the wrong direction."

-Fifteen Minutes Earlier-

Caitlyn mentally groaned as Vi tried to make awkward conversation with the Prison Warden for the umpteen-billionth time as she slid down the hallways of the prison compound as quietly as she could. Her normal rifle had been modified to a more compact form, the butt of the rifle folded in and a suppressor attached to the barrel of the rifle to muffle any shots that Caitlyn had to make. In addition to the changes in weaponry, Caitlyn ditched her usual outfit for a stealthier, all-black outfit. Her hair, usually flowing freely down her shoulders and back, was now put into a tight braid and no top hat rested on her head.

The pounding of feet froze Caitlyn in place as she crouched low and hugged the wall as a patrol of guards moved past her, the guards oblivious to the prone female. Caitlyn mentally counted to ten to ensure that was the last of them before getting up and resuming her march. Halls passed by and by, slowly beginning to meld into an endless continuum of the same looking hallway. The only thing preventing the Sheriff from losing all sense of direction was the fact that she studied the layout of the prison before. She passed one more intersection before pausing, making sure that everything was clear before she took a left, then another right. Just as she hoped, a door stood in front of her. Caitlyn approached the door, kneeling and pulling a small device from her pocket and placing it against the lock on the door. She pressed a button twice before a soft grinding came from the device. A few sparks came from the crack in the door and the wall as the Sheriff waited in silence, eyes and ears peeled for the slightest sign of an approaching patrol.

An eternity dragged itself through sixty seconds before the grinding stopped. Caitlyn removed the device from the door and placed it back in her pouch before trying the door. She gave it a bit of a yank before it slid open. She walked past the arch and slid the door closed once again. The female sharpshooter took a deep breath before getting a good look at her surroundings. She had just entered the solitary confinement wing, and doors now lined the halls. She mentally pulled up the layout of the wing in her head before moving out, taking an immediate left as she kept an eye on the cell numbers. With her destination being C73, and her current location only being at C6, she realized she had a bit of a walk in front of her. Caitlyn just shrugged before moving on. Aside from the occasional curious head popping into the small, bulletproof glass window at the top of the door, the halls were quiet. Hence the "solitary confinement" aspect of this wing.

She paused at C48 at the sound of a footfall that was not her own. She froze in horror as she came to the realization that the "solitary confinement" wing wasn't always solitary. Her eyes gazed upon a lone guard, pushing food trays into slots in the door.

Caitlyn moved as quickly and as quietly as she could, getting behind the guard as he was busy pushing a tray into a slot that didn't want to cooperate. All she did was push the barrel of her rifle against his back. "Not a sound." She spoke quietly. The guard froze where he was, not moving an inch. "Now, slowly drop your keys and kick them to the left. Do it slowly and don't make a noise and you'll walk away." She said, pressing her firearm further into his back. The guard simply nodded, reaching his right hand slowly down to his belt. The jingling of metal keys could be heard as the key ring fell to the floor. He nudged it to the left with his right foot before returning his hand to the trays. Caitlyn simply smiled before slamming the back of her rifle in the back of the guard's head. The trays hit the ground around the same time as the guard's unconscious body did. The Sheriff picked up the keys before smiling slightly. "Don't worry, you'll walk away. Eventually." She spoke to the prone body before she picked up the pace, running down the hallways.

C73 came quickly at the pace she had to adopt. She slid the keys into the lock, trying to figure out which of the hundreds of keys on the ring worked on that door. It took quite a few tries, but eventually the lock clicked open and she slid the door open to reveal a man lying down on a bed. At the sound of the door opening, he shot straight up to identify the person who opened his cell door. "Are you Dreyer?" Caitlyn asked. The man simply nodded. Caitlyn nodded before waving him over. "Come on, some friends of yours say your time in here is over. Besides, I need a few favors from you as well." Dreyer got up and walked out of the door. "Thank yeh. Whatevah' yeh need once we's oudda 'ere, I got yeh. Yeh dig?" he spoke in an urban drawl that irritated the living hell out of the Sheriff after the first word. Thankfully, a loud, shrill, blaring noise came through the hallways to cloak whatever the criminal mechanic was going to say next. Unthankfully, it was the prison's alarms. Caitlyn simply waved Dreyer to follow her, placing a hand over her mouth, signaling him to stay quiet as she paid attention to the conversation between her partner and the prison warden.

"You getting all of this?"

Caitlyn nodded at the information. Vi was perfectly safe right now, unless Caitlyn got busted trying to get out. That probably wasn't going to happen, but that problem could be crossed if it came to it. "Yeah Vi, I read all of this. We're on our way out of the block as we speak. Do what you can from there to get them heading the wrong direction." She spoke into her comm, not breaking stride in the slightest.

C115 passed by as another intersection came into view. Caitlyn rose her hands to signal them to stop as she peeked down both hallways, trying to make sure it was all clear. Not seeing anyone, she signaled Dreyer forward. A shout followed him, and he dove to the opposing wall as a burst of gunfire followed him, hitting thin air. Caitlyn looked down the hallway briefly, seeing two figures with weapons held high. She spun out of cover, firing a few rounds down at them before diving across the gap. Her fire gave her the window to get across without any return fire greeting her. She rose to her feet, waving the criminal to keep going. "Just keep going straight down to the end!" she called over the alarm's blare. Dreyer's eyebrow raised, not knowing what was going on, but nodded and started running, the Sheriff hot on his heels. It only took a few seconds for the guards to catch back up with them, the sounds of gunfire echoing down the stony hallways. Caitlyn spun around, taking shots as she walked backwards as the number of guards now came up to four. One shot found a guard at the knee, and he collapsed in a shout of pain and shock. A second guard stopped to help him out of the field of fire, while the other two continued the pursuit more carefully. Caitlyn fired one more shot to get them to duck before wheeling around and sprinting to catch up with Dreyer.

She finally caught up to him as he stood against a dead end, eyeing her as to ask _"Okay, now what?" _She simply knelt and reached into her pack of supplies, pulling out a large, rectangular block. She placed the block against the wall, flipping a switch on it and pressing a few buttons as a red light began to beep on it. The criminal eyed the Sheriff with bewildered fright. "You're going to blow a hole in the wall!?" he screamed, concern for his well-being seeping from his voice. All Caitlyn gave him in reply was a shake of her head as she pulled a large block out of her bag as well. She set it down in the middle of the hallway and pressed a button at its base. It began unfolding, expanding in all directions until it was about chest high and roughly four feet wide. It gave her ample cover to hide behind, just in time for the pair to duck behind to avoid the gunfire of the two guards reaching their position. Caitlyn popped up to return fire, causing the guards to hug the wall and crouch to minimize their exposure. She reached up to her ear and touched a button on her comm, changing the channel she was receiving. "Alright, the transponder's set. Are you guys getting its signal?" she spoke. A short pause. "Yeah. We're inbound. ETA five minutes." Came the reply and the Sheriff simply shrugged. Five minutes was maybe doable. She changed the channel back to where it was before. "Vi, you may wanna start getting out of there. Truck's five minutes out." Another short pause. _"I think I'll excuse myself out. You look like you have your hands full as it is. We can finish the tour on another day." _Came over the comm as Vi spoke to the warden. A few words Caitlyn couldn't pick up later and a short sigh came from her partner. "Alright I'm out. Meet you back at the motel." Her partner spoke.

Dreyer let out an exasperated sigh. "Five minutes? Nothing takes five minutes!"

Caitlyn switched back the channel to the channel of the incoming truck, ignoring his sarcasm, as she popped out again, returning fire down the hallway. The guard count was slowly starting to grow, now up to five guards. The fifth had also brought riot shields that they were setting in the ground as cover. Caitlyn fired a burst of shots, none of them hitting any of the guards as she spun back behind cover to avoid being torn to shreds by the returning fire. The exchange continued in that manner, one party firing at the other, only to be forced to duck to avoid being shot themselves. Even with the superior numbers and firepower of the guards, the sheer accuracy of the Sheriff prevented them from simply pinning her down so that she could continue fighting as well.

Five lifetimes could've passed in the five minutes before a voice came over her intercom. "We're in position. Firing hook now."

Caitlyn sighed. "Our ride's here! Get ready to move!" she said, sliding backwards and pressing a button on the transmitter as two poles extended out of the block, nozzles on the ends of each pole. A thin stream of plasma shot out of each nozzle, cutting through the walls like a knife through air. The poles began rotating in a circle, cutting a circular line in the wall. Just as the circle was complete, a crash came from behind them, a point now protruding from the circle. The point expanded into three separate points that gripped the wall. Finally, the circle fell backwards and out, exposing the outside world to the inside of the prison. Caitlyn raised her gun over her cover, firing blindly for a while before she nodded to Dreyer. "Go, jump into the truck below!"

Dreyer approached the opening, making sure to stay low to avoid taking a bullet and looked over the edge. Even though a truck sat there, its bed full of mattresses and other soft things for them to land on, it was still roughly a three story fall. The idea was unpleasant to say the least. Caitlyn glanced back to see his indecision before sighing, strapping her rifle to her back before tackling the criminal, forcing them both out of the hole. They plummeted downwards for a few seconds before landing squarely in the bed of the truck, the fluffy material cushioning their fall for the most part. Caitlyn slapped the sides of the truck, the banging telling the driver to punch it. Soon, the prison was just a shape on the horizon.

**A/N: Yeah, that took way longer than I thought it would. Apparently I get distracted waaaaay too easily. I really apologize for the time it took me to write this, and I really hope you're enjoying this. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapters out faster than this, and after this we'll finally be able to leave Zaun (thank god)! Anyway, as always, feel free to favorite or follow, and don't forget to drop me a review to tell me how I'm doing or what you'd love to see in here, because it's called the Tales of VALORAN, not the Tales of Piltover, for a reason :P**

**ALSO, during the time it took me I spent a lot of time playing League of Legends to try and get my motivation to write this up more. It made me come to the realization that I don't really have all that many people to actually play it with, and we all know how much of a pain soloque can be. So if you're looking to play a game feel free to hit me up! My username is Noogai21! Anyway, that's about it. I'll see you guys next time!**


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